The Invention of the Kiss
by geektime66
Summary: Inspired by the prompt "I was really hoping I'd hallucinated all that" Scully goes to see Mulder in the hospital the day after his declaration of love.


I don't own The X Files I just like to fluff it up a bit.

Scully walked into Mulder's hospital room and stopped when she saw him sleeping soundly. It made her smile, he got so little sleep and he looked so peaceful. She nearly left but she needed to see him, needed to talk to him.

Yesterday they fished him out of the ocean after a long terrifying day. Late last night he'd told her that he loved her. He was drugged up and telling wild stories but he'd said it and it was driving Scully insane.  
She kept wondering if he'd meant it. And what if he'd meant it and she'd responded so glibly? What if he meant it and she broke his heart?  
She couldn't sleep last night because of these questions and she knew that they needed to talk but as the day wore on she'd began to lose her courage. Scully was going to visit him anyway but she knew she had to bring it up while she was there or else they would never talk about it.  
He looked so serene and she just watched him for a little bit enjoying the calm look on his face. She wanted to touch him, to run her fingers down his face but she didn't want to disturb him. Instead she took a book she'd been reading out of her briefcase and read for a while.  
"Scully?" She started when he lightly touched her knee and said her name.

He was smiling at her sweetly and she couldn't help but return it.

"Hey." She said and pushed some hair off his forehead in an unconsciously intimate way.

He took her hand before she could pull it back, "How long have you been here?"

She looked at her watch, "About 45 minutes. I've just been reading."

"You should have woken me up."

"I didn't want to disturb you, you need your sleep."  
Mulder kissed her hand and Scully knew it was now or never.  
"Mulder… Yesterday you said something to me…" She wasn't sure where to go and paused for a moment looking at their intertwined fingers.

"Oh god. I was really hoping I'd hallucinated all that…" Mulder said running his free hand down his face.  
She just looked at him not knowing what exactly that meant and she began to feel self-conscious.  
Scully started to pull her hand away but he held it tighter.  
"Scully- I-god- what I meant was that… Ug." He stared up at the celling, "what I meant was what I said: I love you. I'm sorry it happened that way. I'm sorry that I said it and embarrassed you but I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't true."  
She was frozen and no words came to her but she knew that the longer she waited the more he would believe that it was not mutual.

He sat up and looked intensely at her, "I've known it for a while but I think I've felt it since the beginning. Please don't let this ruin things I need you in my life Scully. You are my best friend I can't do this without you. I know it probably makes you uncomfortable but-" She held a finger up to his lips.

"Mulder you are babbling. I never said it made me feel uncomfortable."  
"But you-"  
She held up a hand to silence him again, "I thought you were stoned and just saying things at the time but last night I couldn't sleep because I was worried that my response made you think…" She stopped and looked away from him, "I was worried that you would think that I didn't feel the same."  
Scully couldn't get the words out the way she wanted to. She wanted to tell him she loved him and that she would never love another man again and that she'd loved him for so long. And she wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss him but as usual her strong sense of pride mixed with nervousness held her up.  
"I was worried that you would think that I didn't love you too." Scully could not meet his eyes.

Mulder, for his part, just gaped at her.  
It was silent but for the usual hospital noises and Scully began to feel awkward until he brought his free hand up to cup her cheek.

"Scully look at me." He said seriously.

She waited a beat to prepare herself and finally looked at his face.  
His eyes looked right through her and made her stomach flip. The urge to kiss him grew as she looked at his handsome, earnest face. Scully mustered up all the courage she had and in a flash she had his face in her hands and her mouth on his. Mulder was frozen in shock for a moment but soon one hand covered hers and the other tangled in her hair. Their lips moved together and Scully was mortified to hear a small moan from the back of her throat.  
He tasted exactly like she'd imagined: he tasted like Mulder. When his tongue ran across her bottom lip she nearly fell out of her chair and she grabbed his shoulder for balance. She felt him smiling against her lips.  
He pulled away and planted small kisses across her face, "Oh Scully…" was all he said.  
Scully felt butterflies in her stomach and she was certain that he could hear her heart as it nearly beat out of her chest. She felt exhilaration that she hadn't felt since her very first kiss and that kiss had not even been that great. This kiss though, was one for the books.

A quote from Princess Bride ran through her head, "Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind."  
It was a perfect description and the fondness that she felt for Mulder when she pulled away to look at him nearly broke her heart. He'd stolen her heart and she would never recover.

He ran his thumb up and down her cheek, "I was pretty sure you were going to tell me that we couldn't be partners anymore. So this was a surprise."  
"A good one hopefully."  
"The best one." He said as he rubbed the tip of his nose against hers.  
They kissed again and the second kiss was even better.


End file.
